A
commercial motorcyclists, popularly called okada rider, identified as
Rahman, has allegedly been chased to death by men of the Nigerian Police
Force at Akowonjo Roundabout, Alimosho Local Government, Lagos,
southwest Nigeria.
The
deceased was crushed to death by a fast moving articulated vehicle at
about 6pm, yesterday while trying to evade police arrest .
The
sad incident resulted in traffic gridlock and motorists were stranded
for hours as Okada riders in the vicinity went on the rampage to protest
the death of their colleague.
An eyewitness told our
correspondent that the deceased was trying to evade arrest by the
policemen who were on patrol in the area, apparently to enforce
restriction of okada on that particular road as specified by the Lagos
Traffic Law.
“He was coming from Shasha end of the road en-route
Akowonjo roundabout after close of work as a tailor when he ran into the
policemen on patrol. Before then, he had only gone to make a U-turn
from the same roundabout when he could not find a passenger to carry.
“In
the process he ran into policemen and in an attempt to escape from the
arrest he fell under the tyre of the articulated vehicle which crushed
him.
“Other okada riders who were watching the development, immediately blocked the road and went after the policemen on patrol.”
A
combined team of regular and anti-riot policemen restored normalcy
after shooting in the air to scare away the rampaging youths and okada
riders.
The Commander of “ Area M” command, Idimu, Assistant
Commissioner of Police, ACP, Ibrahim Kaoje, who led the team of
policemen to the scene, described the incident as unfortunate.
He said that the policemen are out to ensure security
of lives and property of the citizens as well as ensure compliance with
laid down rules and regulations without prejudice.
